Aaron Hughes

Name: Aaron Hughes

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: Senior

School: Bayview Secondary School

Hobbies and Interests: Dungeons and Dragons, LARPing, physics, chess, online forums relating to roleplaying games

Appearance: Aaron is of average height (5'9"), and somewhat slight frame, weighing 145 pounds. He is wiry and not particularly muscular. He has dark brown hair, which he wears at medium length, hanging in such a way that it constantly gets in his green eyes. He does not take very good care of his hair, and it is typically tangled and unbrushed. Aaron does make a point of shaving daily, as he is insecure about his inability to grow a full beard; if his facial hair grows out, it is patchy and sparse. Aaron is Caucasian, and quite pale. Except for while he is LARPing, he prefers to spend his time inside, as he sunburns easily. He generally has a good complexion, but tends to break out when under prolonged stress.

Aaron dresses with a practiced lack of consideration for fashion. He wears t-shirts featuring obscure internet memes or odd fantasy designs. He always wears cargo pants, the pockets of which he stuffs to overflowing with pens, pencils, dice, and other knickknacks. All his clothing is in dark colors, the better to avoid drawing too much attention to himself. He changes clothing frequently enough to maintain personal hygiene, but only barely.

Biography: Aaron is an only child, and it shows. Throughout his childhood, his parents have supported him. While he was by no means spoiled, he never had to compete for their attention, which has led him to treat attention and support as his due.

He spent his childhood in New York City. He has always had an active imagination, playing "pretend" long after the other children in his school gave it up as immature. Aaron was teased for this, and has become very defensive about his hobbies. At age 12, he discovered Dungeons and Dragons, and quickly became heavily involved with the game, as it gave him a (slightly) more socially acceptable outlet for his imaginary adventures.

Aaron was viewed by his peers as a "nerd", a label he has struggled with since. He is not good at most academic subjects. He can grasp concepts easily, but has extreme difficulty putting them into practice. He has always been terrible at math, something he is very self-conscious about, since his chosen hobby is so dependant on it. In fact, his friends believe he cheats at D&D, when he in fact makes mathematical errors which he doesn't notice.

Aaron moved with his parents to Saint Paul, Minnesota 4 years ago. Since starting at Bayview Secondary School, he has made some friends among those who share his interest in roleplaying. He disdains others, particularly those who fit into different cliques, as beneath him, and touts his non-conformity, not realizing that he is conforming in his own way. He has an inflated opinion of his own abilities, particularly in academic subjects, and tends to use his large vocabulary to intellectually intimidate others. He is part of the school's chess club, and has memorized the four-turn win maneuver, which he uses to quickly defeat those unfamiliar with the strategy. If this fails, he usually loses quickly because of his poor math skills, complaining all the while that the match was "unfair". He is quite proud, and takes insults to his pride poorly, sulking and refusing to engage while his ego heals. However, on the rare occasions when someone helps him with something in a manner gentle enough to avoid offending him, Aaron can be quite friendly and grateful.

Because of his early teasing by his classmates, Aaron is highly distrustful towards his peers. This goes slightly beyond what is reasonable; he tends to worry that even his friends are plotting to humiliate him in some way, though he never acts on his suspicions and always eventually realizes that they mean him no harm. This, along with his arrogance, have prevented him from forming any romantic relationships. Aaron is timid around women, and has never approached a crush, always waiting for them to make the first move. He is cautious in other aspects of his life as well, always thinking things through before acting. Because of this, he is somewhat liable to miss limited-time opportunities.

On the rare occasions when he does lose his cool, Aaron becomes loud and offensive, shouting at his antagonists and insulting them. He has alienated several students in the past with this behavior. He justifies his lapses of control by mentally reassuring himself that he was goaded or harassed first, which is actually true more often than not.

In the past two years, Aaron has become interested in LARPing (Live Action RolePlaying), and has spent a weekend every month or two fighting other local teens with foam swords. He considers himself an impeccable sword fighter, and is indeed skilled with foam weaponry, but this experience does not transfer to real weaponry nearly as well as Aaron believes.

Aaron tends to view the world through a roleplayer's lens, thinking of the normal world, particularly school, as rather mundane and boring. He spends much of his class time brainstorming new stories, rather than paying attention to the teacher.

Advantages: Aaron is cautious, and unlikely to easily trust people, which should serve him well in an atmosphere like SOTF. He has some experience with the outdoors, as a result of his LARPing time, and is familiar enough with hiding in the wilderness. He is also a good enough actor, having played many parts in roleplaying games.

Disadvantages: Aaron is overconfident, and has a hard time accepting others as equals. If he doesn't get his way, he sulks, which is off-putting to others. He tends to ramble about fantasy and games, and can't tell when people are completely uninterested; this lack of ability to read other’s reactions extends to other areas of social interaction as well. He is also physically weak, though he does not believe he is anything below average. On the occasions when he loses his cool, Aaron can be quite verbally offensive, lending a possibility that he will alienate others. Finally, Aaron has a hard time unconditionally trusting even those who really are his friends, and sometime gets into arguments over imagined slights.

Designated Number: Male Student no. 3

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Designated Weapon: An Action Figure of Halle Berry as Catwoman

Conclusion: ... AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Maybe Mr. Hughes can make-believe he's Batman and pretend that he actually has a shot at surviving, because fantasy is the only way he's making it anywhere in the game!

'The above biography is as written by MurderWeasel. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: MurderWeasel

Kills: Fiona Sparki, Aileen Borden, Erik Laurin, Aston Bennett, Tabitha "Tabi" Gweneth

Killed By: Ivan Kuznetsov

Collected Weapons: An Action Figure of Halle Berry as Catwoman (Assigned Weapon), Sock w/ rocks (improv weapon), FN-Five-Seven (5.7x28mm) (from Lillian Hayes)

Allies: Aileen Borden, Richard Han, Lillian Hayes, Tom Guthrie, Yelizaveta "Bounce" Volkova, Milo Taylor, Charlotte Duclare

Enemies: Nick Reid, Tom Guthrie, Hermione Miller, Rob Jenkins, Jacquard Broughten, Milo Taylor, Zach Jamis, Raidon Naoko, Fiona Sparki, Aileen Borden, Erik Laurin, Kimberly Nguyen, Aston Bennett, Ivan Kuznetsov, Tabitha "Tabi" Gweneth

Mid-game Evaluation: Aaron awoke at the gazebo, Initially disoriented, he quickly came to terms with his situation, trying to recall everything his friend, "Bounce" Volkova, had told him about the show. as he examined his bag, he was distressed to discover that his assigned weapon was a Catwoman figurine. Grappling with his anger at his situation and the stress of possibly having to actually kill someone to survive, Aaron vented his anger at Danya, ranting to a nearby camera.

Aaron was soon found by Tom Guthrie, who proposed teaming up. Aaron agreed, and soon the two were approached by Francine Moreau, Lily Ainsworth, and Aileen Borden. Aaron announced his intention to beat the system and defeat Danya, inviting the others to join him. He laid out a very brief overview of his plans, at this point primarily centered around gathering more people. Even as he spoke, Rekka Saionji came towards them. Aaron offered them all a chance to join in on his escape plot, then took off, counting on them to follow him. This resulted in Francine, Lily, and Rekka choosing to remain behind.

The loss of half of his group went largely unnoticed by Aaron at first, as he focused on searching for Bounce, who he thought would be able to lend insights towards escaping. In the south-eastern woods, Aaron also encountered new allies, stumbling across Richard Han and Lillian Hayes. Aaron offered them the opportunity to join his group, telling them that he planned to escape but withholding the specifics of his plan, citing the cameras as potentially hazardous to their progress. The group also encountered Andrew Mitchell and Hermione Miller, though these two elected not to join the escape plotters.

Already, however, the group was beginning to show signs of strain. Aaron felt that Tom was subverting his authority at every opportunity. Aaron was also somewhat worried about the people who chose not to join, viewing them as potential security threats. He did, however, manage to talk Lillian into giving him her gun, leaving him as the only member of the group armed with a firearm. This was something Aaron was pleased by, since, as he saw it, it would keep him safe should any of the others turn traitor, a possibility he saw as becoming ever-more likely as Tom grew more and more aggressive and challenging throughout the encounter.

Finally, Tom took off, leaving the group behind. Furious, Aaron feigned nonchalance and told the others that he was going to retrieve Tom, directing everyone else to meet him in the residential district. He then followed Tom to the tunnels.

Cautiously making his way after Tom, Aaron saw that the boy had managed to get himself into trouble, attacking a group containing Phillip Ward, Nick Reid, and Jennifer Perez. Tom managed to wound Phil and knock him unconscious, but was then attacked by Nick. Aaron stayed back, out of the light and out of sight of all but Jennifer, simply watching the encounter. As it became increasingly evident that Nick was going to defeat and in all likelihood kill Tom, Aaron considered intervening. He came to the conclusion, however, that Tom had been a negative influence on the group, as well as a likely traitor, and that his death would be more useful as a motivating factor for the rest of the group than his continued survival. Better still, by letting Nick kill him, Aaron could keep his own name off the announcements and use Nick as a foe to rally the group against. As Nick beat Tom to death, Aaron walked quietly out of the tunnels, pausing only to dirty his face to give the impression he had been crying.

After that, Aaron returned to the rest of his group, who had set up camp in a building in the residential area. He had just met up with them when Bounce stumbled across them. Seeing her, Aaron welcomed her warmly, explaining the group's situation to her. He was quietly worried that Bounce might succumb to the temptation to play, but he did not voice these thoughts to the others. Instead, he told them about Tom's death, concocting a very different version of events in which Tom sacrificed himself to save Aaron from Nick, imploring him to save everyone.

Before the news could sink in, the group was disturbed by R.J. Lowe and Mary-Ann Warren. At the same time, Bounce told Aaron she had to go meet someone. This raised Aaron's suspicions, but he still placed his trust in her for the moment. Meanwhile, still more students, specifically David Matson and Owen Rothschild, were lurking nearby. Matson was in the house's attic, planning a possible attack, while Rothschild simply hoped to meet up with more people. Aaron attempted to control the situation, issuing orders for the newcomers to disarm and identify themselves. His aggressive tone drove them away in short order. Aaron became nervous, and decided to leave as well, feeling that the residential area was too crowded to be a safe haven. Aaron told Bounce he'd meet her at the sawmill in a few days' time, gathered some wire from the walls of the house, then set out with his group once more.

Working around the danger zones, the group ended up in the inland woods. Throughout this time, Aaron had been working on his plans, trying to figure out a way to remove the collars or destroy the cameras en masse or otherwise effect an escape. He had begun writing his plans in his notebook, though he was keeping them secret from the rest of the group, fearing one of them would inadvertently sabotage them.

In the woods, Aaron met Robert Jenkins and Milo Taylor. The two argued, in a way that made Aaron progressively more suspicious. Aaron, irritated by the two, took advantage of Milo's willingness to help by ordering him to frisk Rob, knowing that that would provoke the other boy. Rob, in a fit of anger, suggested that the group might find a better leader.

Just then, Jacquard Broughten arrived on the scene. Jacquard was a known killer, one whom Aaron had had run ins with before the class trip. Aaron suspected that Jacquard and Rob were in league, and that the two of them were planning an ambush. He ranted at them, cutting off midsentence as he opened fire on them. His shots hit Rob, though the boy survived due to his bulletproof vest. Aaron fled, though in the process Richard and Lillian became separated. Both met their ends shortly thereafter, Lillian at the hands of Rob and Richard in an unfortunate tumble off the mountain.

Aaron, Aileen, and Milo regrouped in the coastal woods. Aileen demanded that Aaron explain his answers, while Milo displayed blind trust in Aaron's abilities. They were also met by Charlotte DuClare, fresh from another escape plot involving Ethan Kent. Charlie joined the group willingly. Before the conversation and introductions could progress far, however, Jacquard reappeared, planning to reveal Aaron as a fake. Due to their past interactions, Jacquard did not trust Aaron, but when she tried to vocalize this, Aaron countered her points, and his allies backed him up. Aaron threatened Jacquard, then left along with his group.

The next few days passed fairly uneventfully, as Aaron prepared to enact elements of his plan. Finally, though, when the group was resting in the northern part of the felled forest, Aaron stumbled upon information in Danya's survival pamphlet that let him know that his plan would not work. Aaron had been planning to use the wires from the house to tap into the power source for the cameras, then shock a collar, hoping that the surge of power would be sufficient to disable the sensitive electronics. Now, he began to suspect it would instead result in the detonation of the collar.

The group was met by Aston Bennett, Garry Villette, and Sunil Savarkar, all of whom challenged Aaron in some fashion or other. At the same time, Milo recovered slightly from the half-crazed stupor he had been in and started asking questions about what he'd been doing, displaying much greater competence than before. Then, the announcements came on, and Danya mentioned that Liz Polanski had been killed by a squad of terrorists. Aaron began to panic, believing that his group would be their next target, and suspecting that Milo had feigned stupidity to ingratiate himself with the group in hopes of betraying them.

Deciding to head off all these possibilities, Aaron drove off Aston, Garry, and Sunil, in part through threats. He then informed his group that they would be enacting his escape plan immediately, coaxing Aileen into electrifying Milo's collar. As he had expected, it exploded, killing the boy. Aaron believed that this had both protected him from the terrorists by proving that his plan would not work and also had eliminated a dangerous threat posed by Milo. It was at this point that Aaron began more seriously considering his fallback plan, which involved using his allies as shields while flying under the radar before attempting to win the game once the numbers had been whittled down significantly.

First, though, Aaron had to deal with the reactions of his group. The others were horrified at Milo's death, and Aaron feigned great despair and a crisis of confidence. Into this scene stepped Zach Jamis, who was highly suspicious of Aaron. Zach's blunt approach alienated Aileen and Charlie, causing them to back Aaron. They managed to chase Zach away, then the group set out for the sawmill, hoping to reconnect with Bounce.

At the sawmill, the group heard the message broadcast by the STAR rescue team. Aaron realized that there was a good chance he would be persecuted for his actions should he return to the states, and so decided to take his chances trying to win the game the conventional way. He told Charlie and Aileen that he thought it was a player trying to lure people into a trap. When they insisted on checking it out, Aaron declared that he would go himself. Instead, he waited an hour, then returned, claiming that the beach had been empty. He figured that having Charlie and Aileen along would improve his own chances of survival in the long run, and viewed them as tools in his arsenal to be used to improve his own chances of survival.

When the next announcement hit, the group had returned to the residential area. Aaron feigned remorse, claiming he had seen nobody, while Charlie concocted excuses for him. Aaron claimed that it had all been for the best, since everyone had died anyways. Charlie, however, seized control, stating that the rescue could still be going on and trying to drag the others with her to try to find the boats. Aaron went along with this for a time, staying quiet as he planned for the future.

Finally, they ended up at the infirmary. As they entered, Aaron saw Naoko Raidon and Fiona Sparki. Recognizing Raidon as a major killer, Aaron opened fire immediately, cathcing Fiona in the crossfire and killing her. Raidon managed to dive for cover and throw a flashbang grenade, distracting Aaron. In the confusion, Raidon fired as well, hitting and fatally wounding Charlie. Aaron fled in the confusion, with Aileen in hot pursuit.

The two stopped at the docks. Aileen took a moment to examine Aaron's notebook, which she still had from when she had followed the instructions written within, resulting in Milo's death. She found further notes, reassurances written by Aaron in advance that Milo's death had been part of the plan and had been for the good of the group. Horrified, Aileen confronted Aaron, demanding he tell her what was going on. Aaron tried to talk his way out of it, explaining that Milo had been dangerous and saying that he had only lied for the benefit of the group's morale. Aileen did not accept that explanation, her suspicions growing as Aaron pulled his gun on her. She threatned to read the contents of the notebook out loud, so that the viewers at home would know what Aaron had done. Aaron countered by mentioning that he had only killed one person, who had been a killer, and that almost everyone who had known about the group was dead. He noted that he could kill Aileen and pass himself off as a player hunter. Aileen did not believe his threat, and told Aaron that he would be helpless and alone without her. She issued an ultimatum, telling him to kill her or surrender to her and follow her lead until they managed to escape. In response, Aaron shot her in the chest, killing her.

Afterwards, Aaron returned to the town, planning to try to assemble a new group and wait out the game. The house he was hiding in was approached by Madeleine Smith, who talked with Aaron briefly, but who was unwilling to trust him enough to come within sight of him. Aaron, meanwhile, became concerned about a possible trap once more, and fled the residential district as soon as Madeleine left.

He found himself at the sawmill, where he stumbled upon Kimberly Nguyen and Erik Laurin, resting and recovering. Misunderstanding something Nguyen said as meaning that they were playing, Aaron decided to eliminate a potential dangerous team and opened fire, hitting and killig Laurin. He did not find this out until the next announcement, though, as he immediately fled, fearing reprisal.

The last announcement herded Aaron towards the residential district again. He was noticed and followed by Aston Bennett, who got the drop on him, holding him at gunpoint and demanding answers. Aston questioned Aaron, trying to figure out what had happened and growing ever more suspicious as Aaron attempted to lie his way out of the situation. Aston finally figured out that Aaron was lying and attempted to shoot him. Her gun had jammed, though, and Aaron moved immediately, drawing his own pistol and firing upon Aston. He hit her in the shoulder, wounding her, but she tried to escape, fleeing the house in which the confrontation had taken place. Aaron followed, cornering Aston in the street. Aston threw her empty gun at Aaron in a show of resistance, hitting him in the face but not slowing him down. He quickly shot her again, killing her.

The confrontation took place outside a house in which Ivan Kuznetsov and Tabitha Gweneth were staying. Seeing Aaron kill Aston, Ivan and Tabi armed themselves. Ivan, knowing Aaron from an argument in school, was quite worried by the boy's presence. Aaron ducked into the house, and, finding Ivan and Tabi and remembering that both had won Best Kill Awards, assumed that he was dealing with a pair of players. He attacked immediately, driving Ivan and Tabi back up the stairs and into a second floor bedroom. Aaron pressed the attack, charging after them and shooting wildly. During the fight, one of Aaron's shots connected, fatally wounding Tabi. His victory proved to be shortlived, as Ivan managed to push him back and shoot him in the chest with his shotgun. Aaron tumbled back down the stairs, dying shortly after impact at the bottom in eighth place, a short time before Tabi passed away.

Post-Game Evaluation: B003 certainly had the right idea. Playing it quiet let him get very close to the end, but he eventually bit off more than he could chew and ended up dead for it. A pity, too; he could have been a prime contender if he'd just restrained himself a little bit longer.

Memorable Quotes:
 * "Goodbye, Aileen." - Aaron to his oldest ally, directly before shooting her

Other/Trivia

 * Aaron's second post in "Whistling in The Dark" was the 75,000th post on the current SOTF board.
 * Aaron was the second character approved for V4 pregame. As the first, Charles Beckwith, never actually made it onto the island, Aaron was technically the oldest character in V4.

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Aaron, in chronological order.

The Past:
 * When I Grow Up...
 * I </3 NY

Pre-Game:
 * Watch the Sky
 * Life is a Game
 * D&D Night
 * Eleutherea
 * Stranded in this Shopping Hell
 * Too Good for Prom
 * Lunch on the Lawn

V4:


 * Death is not a Game
 * My Kingdom for a Plan!
 * Spelunking
 * Where Do You Go From Here?
 * When My Fist Clenches, Crack It Open
 * Could Have Been Worse
 * No Such Thing as a Perfect Plan
 * Altering the Deal
 * Lies, lies, lies
 * Failing to Reappear
 * Loyalty Rewarded
 * Whistling in The Dark
 * Everybody Knows
 * Finalizing Plans
 * The Mighty Sparrow

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Aaron Hughes. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''